Class 73/1 No.73101 The Royal Alex’
Many of you have noticed that the No.73101 has not been used in revenue earning service for some while now. It has been suffering with problems to its engine speed governor for some time but has recently roared into life after some attention from the owner’s fitter over the past few months.
It is hoped to return it to service some point this year once sufficient experience and competence has been gained from the diesel locomotive crews. We will keep you posted…
The coldest winter for 31 years…
With the UK leaving the ‘coldest winter for 31 years’ behind the Carriage & Wagon department have already been busy with repairs to the coaching stock caused by the cold weather over the past couple of months.
The department uncovered leak after leak in our rolling stock – eventually finding that all of our passenger stock had suffered burst pipes from the freezing water.
The Restaurant car (RUB No.1933 ‘Doris’) suffered worst with a total of 15 burst, mainly to the plumbing serving the kitchen apparatus.
Volunteers will be working tirelessly over the next few weeks to ensure the coaching stock is back up to its usual high standard ready for the upcoming operating days.
Tourist Second Open No.4058
Work is nearing completion on TSO No.4058, which as reported last year, is due to join the Dining set of our rolling stock fleet during 2010.
An order for upholstery has been met and arrived at Bitton last week allowing the much needed reupholstering of the seats to be restarted. The material matches that that would have been sported in Mark 1 coaches of its period.
Similarly an order for window glass has been received and work started in earnest. An order for carpet and lino (lino for the vestibule corridors) has been made and we await the materials to start that particular job.
Second Buffet Coach
Work on fitting out the second ‘Buffet coach’ is continuing at pace. This coach is much needed, especially during the wet months when visitors to the Buffet are less inclined to sit outside!
A large order for plywood has been placed to allow the fitting out to be progressed further. The necessary electrical wiring has been completed in readiness for this work to begin when possible.
Permanent Way
Volunteers were busy over the winter, lifting and relaying the Up platform loop at Bitton in readiness for it to be inspected by the HMRI for passenger train working. Despite the weather (often snow showers) the work was successfully completed.
It involved lifting the track and raising the track bed height by a couple of inches to ensure the correct height between a train and the platform was achieved.
The past few weeks have seen Jon Miles and Marcus Cowley working on the facing point locks of the South and Middle ground frames at Bitton. All facing points must be able to be locked if a passenger train is to be passed over it.
Once this work is completed the HMRI will be notified and hopefully we will receive no objection to running passenger trains into the Up platform once again.
If you are interested in joining us as a volunteer please get in touch for a chat and a tour – telephone 0117 932 5538. We always welcome new volunteers – to all areas of the Railway, see the Volunteering pages more information.
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